The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is having its best year yet. Far from being a motley crew of terrorists, it has bombed, attacked and beheaded its way far past the signpost which should have marked its graveyard.
And today, its point of view is being aired on national television. How Ehsanullah Ehsan, the spokesman of the TTP with a 200 million rupee bounty on his head, managed to talk live on a prime time current affairs programme, is a conversation for later on. But I will add that till a few years ago, there existed a gentlemen’s agreement that anything coming from the Taliban would not be given any airtime on any channel. Times indeed have changed.
Just to recap the recent meteoric rise of the TTP: its first official outreach came in the form of a letter sent to the media, which outlined preposterous preconditions for a ceasefire. A day later, in a video message, Hakimullah Mehsud said that the TTP was willing to negotiate peace with the government, but would not disarm.
Just over five weeks later, the TTP appeared again and put forth new conditions (albeit much cleverer ones). These included the release of five TTP men currently in custody; the spokespersons also pointed out three politicians who could be guarantors of the talks between the TTP and the government. These three were the PML-N’s Nawaz Sharif, the JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rahman and the JI’s Syed Munawar Hasan.
And all the while, attacks against the state continued. On January 10, more than 20 people were killed in a blast at a religious seminary in Swat. On January 13, 14 security personnel were killed by a remote controlled bomb in North Waziristan. Then on January 15, 18 bullet ridden bodies were found dumped in Khyber Agency. An attack in Lakki Marwat on February 2 left 31 dead.
These details are important to gauge precisely who has the upper hand here, and who is strong-arming the other onto the negotiating table. Over the course of the above-mentioned period, have we heard of any major operations against the terrorists? Not once. Everything is reactionary. When they attack, we defend. And when they’re going home – after a hard day’s night – we shoot a couple in the back and shout ‘yay!’
On another note, the responses from the three parties shortlisted by the TTP as potential mediators are also very interesting. The JUI-F’s Fazlur Rehman welcomed the TTP’s offer, and recommended using a ‘grand jirga’ for the negotiations.
The JI distanced itself asking how it could be a guarantor when the government is not ready to implement the resolutions of parliament. And Nawaz Sharif, in a classic Kansas City shuffle, said that the government should take immediate steps in response to the TTP’s offer, but he himself could not be the guarantor keeping in mind the current government’s track record. Classic politics. So close, yet so far away.
The ANP has suffered the most at the hands of the terrorists. And has been trying to put together an All Parties Conference to discuss possible strategies to combat militancy and negotiate with militants. But so far, the response from the others has been lukewarm, with at least two parties, the JI and the JUI-F, turning down the offer. These are the same two parties that have been shortlisted by the TTP as possible guarantors. Coincidence?
There are no coincidences in politics and matters of national interest. It is obvious that our political parties don’t see eye to eye when it comes to terrorism. Not thinking of terrorism as an existential threat to Pakistan is being grandly delusional.
From the TTP’s point of view, all is hunky-dory. It has Pakistan on the ropes. And has achieved the moral high ground by offering peace, to which there has been no response. It also attacks the state and the people at will, inflicting heavy damage.
Yet, we sit and debate what threatens Pakistan the most. Is it population, the birth-rate, unemployment, lack of health facilities, education, access to jobs, a soaring inflation rate and the like? None of these threaten Pakistan quite like the terrorism, which we need to tackle head on.
The first order of the day must be to tackle the Taliban with more determination than ever before. Let them be on the defensive. Once they are duly worried that the state has decided to give them a hard time, only then will we offer them our ‘preconditions’.
Talk to the Taliban we must, but from a position of strength. Military operations alone cannot solve this problem, for each terrorist we kill, we spawn another five. Mindsets cannot be eliminated by violence; they can only be changed via dialogue.
The writer is the chief operating officer of an FM radio network and tweets @aasimzkhan
Aasim Zafar Khan, "Grand delusion," The News. 2013-02-14.Keywords: